Answer:
$63 million was paid as dividends this year.
Explanation:
In the balance sheet, retained earnings increased from $527 million reported last year to $620 million reported this year. This increase implies that for this year the company retained profits of:
[tex]$620m-$527m = $93m[/tex]
If the company reported a net income of $156 million and only $93 million was retained, then the difference between the two figures is what was paid as dividends this year i.e:
Net income $156,000,000
Less dividends xxxxxx
Retained earnings $ 93,000,000
the figure for dividends is thus $63 million.